Jesus Christ rubs shoulders with Che Guevara at CPI(M) meet

TRIVANDRUM(India),February4, 2012:Christians, who account for about 20 per cent of the state’s population, have viewed the painting displayed at the venue of the party’s state conference in Trivandrum and the subsequent equation of party’s all-India general secretary Prakash Karat with Christ by senior leader M V Jayarajan as part of a hidden agenda to attract the minority community into the party fold.The painting of the Christ was placed along with revolutionaries like Ernesto Che Guevara and social reformers at the history exhibition organised by the party as part of the state conference to be held here from February 7 to 10. The painting is featured in the section, Martyrdom, from Christ to Che.Political observers believe that the move was part of a larger plan by the CPI (M) to attract the minority community to the party fold. The minorities have been distancing from the Communists in the state traditionally thinking the party is against the faith.Though the CPM had recently affirmed that it was not against any faith, the minorities continued to cling on to the right wing parties. The party believe that they lost the recent elections because of the setbacks they suffered in the minority belts.Fr Paul Thelakkat, spokesman of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the three Catholic rites in the state, said that the party had turned to Jesus Christ after their gurus like Karl Marx and Lenin no more inspire people.He said that the CPM was trying to win the Christians by misguiding them. The people know the true colour of the party in the state and they will not be swayed by false campaigns, he added.The Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) has threatened to launch a campaign against the party’s designs. KCYM general secretary Cyriac Chazhikadan said that the CPI (M) had turned to Christ after the party failed to attract people through violent politics.The Ernakulam diocese committees of the KCYM and the Kerala Latin Catholics Association (KLCA) organised a torchlight procession and a public meeting at Cochin on Thursday to protest against the CPI (M) moves.Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala also flayed the CPI (M), saying that it will hurt the religious sentiments of the Christians. He has urged the party to desist from the move. He told reporters here on Friday that he had reacted on the issue considering the reactions of a large number of people to the CPI (M) moves. This is not the first time the CPI (M) has resorted to using the religious symbols for political purposes. The Wayanad district unit of the party had also put up the picture of Jesus Christ along with Karl Marx during the district conference in December, but removed it following mounting protests.In Thrissur, where there is a large concentration of Christians, the party had featured the picture of Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, much to the chagrins of the Church. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s alleged move to adopt Jesus Christ as the party’s campaign tool has evoked strong protests from various quarters in the southern Indian state of Kerala.